The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture seeks proposals for a Mary Jaharis Center sponsored session at the 4th Forum Medieval Art, Berlin and Brandenburg, September 20–23, 2017. The biannual colloquium is organized by the Deutsche Verein für Kunstwissenschaft e.V.

The theme for the 4th Forum Medieval Art is 360° – Places, Boundaries, Global Perspectives. It will focus on research at the geographical and methodological boundaries of classical medieval studies. The various venues in Berlin and Brandenburg with their medieval heritage and their rich collections of Byzantine and Middle Eastern will be taken as a starting point. Accordingly, the conference will highlight the interaction of Central European medieval art and artistic production with other regions ranging from Eastern Europe, Byzantium, the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Mediterranean to the British Isles and the Baltic region. Thus research areas such as Byzantine Studies or Islamic Art History will be brought into the focus and consciousness of medieval studies, particularly in the context of the endangered artistic and architectural monuments of the Middle East. Especially welcome are topics discussing phenomena such as migration, media transformation and changing cultural paradigms. By asking for culturally formative regions at the borders of "Europe" and transcultural contact zones, definitions of the Middle Ages can be put up for debate. As a counterpart to this panorama, research about the region of Brandenburg and Berlin will also be presented. This includes subjects of museum studies and the history of art of and in Berlin, where the development of areas of cultural exchange has a long tradition.

We invite session proposals that fit within the 360° – Places, Boundaries, Global Perspectives theme and are relevant to Byzantine studies. Additional information about the Forum Medieval Art atmittelalterkongress.de.

Session proposals must be submitted through the Mary Jaharis Center website. The deadline for submission is May 9, 2016.

If the proposed session is approved, the Mary Jaharis Center will reimburse session participants (presenters and chair) up to $300 maximum for residents of Germany, up to $600 maximum for EU residents, and up to $1200 maximum for those coming from outside Europe. Funding is through reimbursement only; advance funding cannot be provided. Eligible expenses include conference registration, transportation, and food and lodging. Receipts are required for reimbursement.